The finalists for the 2017 South African Car of the Year (COTY) competition have been announced by the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists, in conjunction with WesBank.

The finalists were announced on Tuesday at The Country Club Johannesburg in Woodmead.

The current SA Car of the year is the Volvo XC90 SUV, followed by the Ford Fusion, with the Mazda2 taking third place.

All finalists were analysed by a 28-member voting jury who were elected by their peers. The original list of vehicle ranges stood at 35 considered car brands.

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Here are the finalists (in alphabetical order)

Audi A4 – Priced from R441 000

Honda Civic – Priced from R330 000

Hyundai Tucson – Priced from R369 900

Jaguar F-Pace – Priced from R776 800

Mazda CX-3 – Priced from R277 800

Opel Astra – Priced from R254 000

Renault Kadjar – Priced from R364 900

Toyota Fortuner – Priced from R438 000

Volkswagen Passat – Priced from R432 600

Volkswagen Tiguan – n/a

How the Finalists Are Judged

A two-day evaluation will take place in early February 2017 and finalists will be judges in terms of their:

Affordability

Cabin Styling, Layout, and Ergonomics

Engine

Engineering Integrity and Build Quality

Exterior Design

Overall Excellence

Ride Quality

Steering and Handling

Technology

Transmission

Value for money

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The jury will be exposed to all performance test data, side-by-side comparative pricing, and all specification information of each individual car. MAPO, the Guild’s digital partner, will also be providing comparative data for the price of parts of all vehicle finalists.